Published by Greenwillow Books

Summary:  A witch hosting a cooking show is teaching her viewers how to make frog soup.  “It’s easy to make and healthy, too.”  She puts the ingredients in a cauldron: carrots, potatoes, 22 cloves of garlic, a cup of fly extract.  Then it’s time for the frogs, guaranteed to add “a kick of flavor and a pop of color.”  Carefully, she lowers her wooden spoon into a tank full of frogs, and then…for the next 20 pages, she chases after the frogs who escape from the tank, hop through the kitchen, jump out a window, and travel across a city street to a pond.  The witch is in hot pursuit, trying everything she knows to catch just one frog, but in the end, she has to substitute a spoonful of pickles.  “Enjoy with friends,” she tells viewers on the last page, sipping her soup surrounded by frogs perched on the edge of the bowl.  40 pages; ages 3-8.

Pros:  A fun book to read at Halloween or any time of year.  It’s Halloween-ish without specifically mentioning the holiday. Kids will laugh out loud at the slapstick illustrations.

Cons:  No recipe?